Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hey there everyone, recently got a suggestion that +1lap should host a gallery for budget/frankenbikes. If anyone has a great frankenbike/parts bin special, send it to plusonelap at gmail dot com. If I think it and you are awesome, it'll go up on the site.

Please write a short story of where/how you sourced the parts and how much you spent as well. Now go to it!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Here is my retroish Gios cyclocross bike, the frame is made of gios pro tubing, setup with a mix of Shimano and Paul components:

The headset, the box, the crank and the "barend" shifter are shimano duraace or 600.
The brakes are Paul Neo-Retro w/ Salsa hanger, Paul Chainkeeper, and Paul Thumbie pod
The wheels is Shimano 105 to open pro w. michelin "sprint" tyres
Flight Ti saddle, Ritchey pro post, Salsa stem, 3ttt formula SL handelbar, Canecreek and Salsa brake levers. The rear mech is a suntour XC pro, it shifts great but I will like the index to work, so I will change it to an XTR.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Here's one for both galleries, as it's under 18 lb and handmade/custom. True North Cycles is a local builder who does super work and has built me steel mtb and road frames before I got the cross bike.

The ride is fantastic, with a stiff rear end for putting the power down but enough compliance to pop out of corners like only Ti can. I went for a very low BB (70mm BB drop) and though I clipped a pedal a few times in practice at first, the cornering benefits are very worthwhile in my mind.

See the attached *.xls for the parts list. The frame comes in at 1596 g, not bad for being a 60 cm x 57 cm, and not your average scandium or monocoque carbon. Total build weight is 17.2 lbs with the Hope Pro3/Velocity Escape wheels. I've got a few wheel options depending on the conditions. I wanted to get it sub 17 lbs, and still can with the right wheels but I'm happy with just over anyway.

Non weight-weenie sacrifices were made for functional (preference) reasons in the Q-ring and Bontrager bar, and for cost cutting in crank and brake selection. That said I'm quite pleased with the weight as is, and don't see many changes ahead. Maybe the BB, since the Race Face was just what I had on hand.

I've been considering posting my bike for a while now, and Josh's recent post of his Salsa was the final push to get the proverbial ball rolling. I bought the frame and fork last year and moved parts over from my road bike (I decided a sweet cross rig that I would ride all year was better than two mediocre bikes, since I don't race on the road). I then upgraded parts throughout the cross season and this Spring. By far the best upgrades were the wheels. I would say it doesn't matter so much if you get tubulars, tubeless, or tubed, but definitely get the lightest wheels that will be durable for your weight. I noticed the reduced rotational weight right away, by far more than any other upgrade (most which you don't notice at all except in the pocketbook). The next upgrade from a performance level would be the TRP brakes. A distinct difference from my old Avid Shorty 6's. To make lighter I tried a USE seat post, but could never tighten it enough to avoid the dreaded prostate massage by the end of a race, and a Tune Gum Gum only held the front end stable for about 1/4 of a dirt road training ride.

Sorry, I don't have individual weights. I am able to run some lightweight components that others couldn't, because I only weight about 130lbs (I am hard on components, witness two cracked Zipp 303 rims, broken USE seatpost) Consider this bike did 16 cross races last year, plus year round training in this configuration without a part fail.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ok here is a pic of my second Custom Sycip submitted to this site. It is made of lite weight Columbus Tubing, ovalized at the headtube, then to round then back to ovalized at the Seatube, for the down-tube, it is ovalized at the Bottom-bracket as well as the seat-tube at the bottom bracket.

I really wanted to use the New Niner EBB (Biocentric) bottom bracket (Shell) for this frame and at the time it was only available in steel which is now available in Al as well. The frame weight is 3.5 lb. in what would be about at 51cm frame. It weights the same as the tricross frame that it replaced that was clubbed together into a single speed setup.

The complete bike as shown in the pics weights 15.8 which is awesome, my first CX Geared frame by Jeremy weighted 2.6 lb. which would have been crazy lite if we built this one in that manner. I raced the bike twice since it was built once in the CrossCrusades SS race then later that same day in the SSCXWC and truly loved the geometry and handling of the bike. Thanks for posting this bike.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I bought this old "Brian Wilkins" Reynolds 531 tourer second-hand nearly two years ago with the idea of doing it up into some sort of all-purpose, early '70s-style, mean machine: not a pure cyclocross bike as such, but more like one than anything else. I started the upgrade / part-replacement at the start of 2009 and finished in the summer - and I have enjoyed taking inspiration from your website throughout the process... Thanks P.O.L.! I have tried to keep to vintage parts by-and-large, but without getting too hung up about it and without spending too much money. SPEC.Frame: Brian Wilkins, London circa 1973 vintage. Cantilever mounts added - 2008. Resprayed - 2009.Wheels: Mavic Open Pro (new) Tyres: Normally Specialized Borough 32s (for daily commute). Here race-ready Schwalbe CX Pro 32s.Brakes: Shimano Altus (I think - new)Levers: Weinmann (original with NOS e-bay hoods) Saddle: Iscaselle Tornado (NOS e-bay)Seatpost: Kalloy (NOS e-bay)Handlebars / Stem: Cinelli Campione del Mundo / Cinelli (both NOS)Rear derailleur: Shimano 600 (NOS e-bay)Gear levers: ditto but with Arabesque styling (NOS e-bay)Front derailleur: Suntour Superbe Pro (NOS e-bay)Cranks & Chainset: Sakae SR (original) Weight: unknown but around 21lb? Total cost including re-spraying approx GB £700. I take part in my first cyclocross race tomorrow ("Muddy Hell" at the 'cross track around Herne Hill Velodrome, London, UK). It's in the dark and the course goes through the beer tent... Hopefully the forecast rain will have stopped by the evening!Thanks again. Hope you like the photos - and keep up the good work!Regards, James W.London, UK

Campy record hubs laced to mavic ceramic open pro clincher rims, Challenge Grifo XS tiresThe cassette is a 13-29 that I turned into a 12-26, but since the pic has been taken I have gone back to the 13-29.